Culture
The culture of Russia is a hybrid one created from the cultures of the nationalities of this multinational state and the result of development over several distinct epochs.
Historically, the dominating position in Russia is occupied by the Russian culture, the culture of Russian language and Russian nationality; this is partly because Russians constitute the vast majority of the population in the country, and partly because many times in the History of Russia the cultures of other nationalities were suppressed through Russification.
The politics of the Soviet Union with respect to culture was controversial: on one side there was a politically-motivated desire to create a 'Soviet people', which was expressed in the notion of Soviet culture, exemplified by Socialist Realism. From the other side there were periodical campaigns of preservation of national cultures: every ethnicity had 'great national writers' and folk cultural practices were officially supported.
Architecture
Russian architecture was influenced predominantly by the Byzantine architecture until the Fall of Constantinople. At the turn of the 15th and 16th century, Aristotle Fioravanti and other Italian architects introduced Renaissance trends. The reigns of Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov saw the development of tent-like churches culminating in Saint Basil's Cathedral. In the 17th century, the 'fiery style' of ornamentation flourished in Moscow and Yaroslavl, gradually paving the way for the Naryshkin baroque of the 1690s.
The 18th-century taste for rococo architecture led to the splendid works of Bartolomeo Rastrelli and his followers. During the reign of Catherine the Great and her grandson Alexander I, the city of Saint Petersburg was transformed into an outdoor museum of Neoclassical architecture; the 19th century was dominated by the Byzantine and Russian Revival. Prevalent styles of the 20th century were the Art Nouveau (Fyodor Shekhtel), Constructivism (Aleksey Shchusev and Konstantin Melnikov), and the Stalinist Empire style (Boris Iofan).
Ballet
Russia has a revered and recognised tradition of ballet. Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed the most famous works of ballet - Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty. Russian dancers have achieved worldwide acclaim, with notable dancers including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Olga Preobrajenska, Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Lydia Lopokova, Yury Grigorovich, Natalia Makarova and Rudolf Nureyev.
Cinema
Whilst Russia was involved in filmmaking as early as most of the other nations in the West, with notable films such as Stenka Razin in 1908, it only came into prominence during the 1920s when it explored editing as the primary mode of cinematic expression. This resulted in world-renowned films such as Battleship Potemkin, Mother and Circus. This outburst of creativity and innovation was short lived. In the 1930s, Soviet censorship discouraged non-socialist views, stifling creativity, though it did produce the hit Chapaev, a film so popular that the actor who played the main character, a leader in the Red Army during the Russian revolution, telephoned soldiers during WWII in character to lift their spirits.
Other notable releases of the Soviet years included Ballad of a Soldier, Siberiade, and The Mirror. The Soviet Union also produced some of the world's most innovative and influential directors, most notably Sergei Eisenstein and Andrei Tarkovsky. Although Russian language films predominated, several Soviet republics developed lively and unique cinemas.
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russian cinema has greatly transformed. Although still largely funded by the state, the topics and dynamic have been updated. During the '90s, Russian filmmaking decreased sharply, going from hundreds to double digits, though still making occasional hits like Brother. However, recent years have brought increased viewership and subsequent prosperity to the industry through exploration of contemporary subjects like sexuality in the 2004 film You, I Love. Russian filmmakers began experimenting in high-budget modern movies like the highly popular film Night Watch.
Icon Painting
Russian icon painting was influenced from the art of the Byzantine churches, and it soon became an offshoot version of the mosaic and fresco traditions. Icon paintings in Russia attempted to help people with their prayers without idolising the figure in the painting. The most comprehensive collection of Icon art is found at the Tretyakov Gallery.
Rather than being a mere imitation, Russian icons had a peculiar style and masters such as Andrei Rublev took the icon to new heights.
Literature
Russia has a rich literary history, beginning with the poet Alexander Pushkin, who is considered the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. In the nineteenth century Russian literature underwent an astounding golden age, culminating in two of the greatest novelists in world literature, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Russia has remained a leading nation in literature since that time, although Russian literature declined under the didactic limitations of the Soviet regime; nonetheless, dissidents like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Boris Pasternak produced world-renowned Russian literature in the twentieth century.
Matryoshka Dolls
A Matryoshka doll is a Russian nesting doll. A set of Matryoshka dolls consists of a wooden figure which can be pulled apart to reveal another figure of the same sort inside. It has in turn another figure inside, and so on. The number of nested figures is usually six or more. The shape is mostly cylindrical, rounded at the top for the head and tapered towards the bottom, but little else; the dolls have no hands (except those that are painted). The artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate. The theme is usually peasant girls in traditional dress, but can be almost anything, for instance fairy tales or Soviet leaders.
Music
Russia is a large and culturally diverse country with dozens of ethnic groups; each with their own forms of folk music. During the period of Soviet domination, music was highly scrutinised and kept within certain boundaries of content and innovation. After the fall of the USSR in the early 1990s, rock and pop music became the most popular musical forms in Russia. With the rise of these genres, some native artists became quite popular.
Russia has a long history of classical music innovation. Prominent Russian composers include Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and in the 20th century Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Scriabin, Shostakovich and Alfred Schnittke. Glinka and the composers who made up The Mighty Handful after him (Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Borodin and César Cui) were often influenced by Russian folk music and tales. This same period saw the foundation of the Russian Musical Society in 1859, led by composers Anton and Nikolay Rubinstein. The Soviet Era produced many prominent musicians including Mstislav Rostropovich,Vladimir Horowitz, Emil Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter.
Opera
The first known opera made in Russia was A Life for the Tsar by Mikhail Glinka in 1836. This was followed by several operas such as Ruslan and Lyudmila in 1842. Russian opera was originally a combination of Russian folk music and Italian opera. After the October revolution many opera composers left Russia. Russia's most popular operas include:
- Boris Godunov
- Eugene Onegin
- The Golden Cockerel
- Prince Igor
- The Queen of Spades
Sport
Russia is a keen sporting country, successful at a number of sports and continuously finishing in the top rankings at the Olympic Games. During the Soviet era, the team placed first in the total number of medals won at seven of its nine appearances and was second by this count on the other two. They returned as the Unified Team in 1992 Barcelona Olympics after the breakup of the Soviet Union and found itself again at the top of the medal tally. At seven Winter Olympics, the USSR placed first place by total number of gold medals won and at the other two it was second by this count. With these performances many consider the USSR as the undisputed Olympic powerhouse at the time of its existence.
The ice hockey team has a long history of traditions and success. The Soviet ice hockey team dominated world ice hockey at both the Olympics and World Championships in the 1960s, 70's and 80's, winning gold at 20 out of 30 of the Ice Hockey World Championships in these decades and winning all but two Olympic ice hockey gold medals from 1956 to 1988 (winning again as the Unified Team at the 1992 Albertville Olympics). There are three legendary offensive hockey players, Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov. These players continued the Russian success in to the 1980s. The 1990s became the decade years for NHL victories for Russian superstars such as Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure. Nowadays, there are more than 70 Russians in the best World League, including superstars Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Ilya Kovalchuk, from Atlanta Thrashers.
Figure skating is another popular sport. In the 1960s the Soviet Union rose to become a dominant power in figure skating, especially in the disciplines of pair skating and ice dancing. At every Winter Olympics from 1964 until the present day, a Soviet or Russian pair has won gold, often considered the longest winning streak in modern sports history.
Among the traditional sports are football (soccer) and ice hockey. The USSR team won the first European Football Championship in 1960 and two Olympic gold medals, and the Russian Premier League attracts many foreign investors and players, with one of its teams, CSKA Moscow, winning the 2004-2005 UEFA Cup.
Russia has also produced a number of famous tennis players including Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin, Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova. Recently, Russian women players are some of the most dominant on the women's tour, consistently winning Grand Slams and being highly ranked.
Chess is a favourite pastime, and a sport that has been dominated by Russians in the post-war era. The winner of the 1948 World Chess Championship, Russian Mikhail Botvinnik, started an era of Soviet dominance in the chess world. Until the end of the Soviet Union, there was only one non-Soviet champion.
Other sports widely played in Russia include gymnastics, boxing, martial arts, volleyball, basketball and skiing.
